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“Obviously, the goal I had was to get Wizkid but the real thing was for people to see how if you set a goal and you move towards it, you either get it or move really close to it.”
wrote a profile of real superstar
@korty_EO
for
@OkayAfrica
.
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hi friends.
i’m starting an editor-at-large role
@NativeMag
where i’ll be working to expand our coverage of the music, culture, style, and politics of our era.
i’m looking forward to working with writers and creatives from all over so send a pitch to Wale
@thenativemag
.com.
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rip mohbad, the meek and confident. a true frontline star of street-pop’s second generation who brought a new streak of inventive lingo and potent ad-libs to the body of our popular music. thank you for turning the ballad as a form on its head with “peace.”
you deserved so much
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for the third and final cover of
@NativeMag
’s
#TheResetIssue
, i profiled
@zinoleesky01
.
we talked about everything and tried to understand the gift and tensions that make him the one most likely to expand the sonic range of street-pop.
full story:
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“So, I want to end this by praising Mohbad's wondrous voice, the fights he endured and the tears he never let us see. I hope he knew that his light was set on a hill and would never be extinguished.”
farewell Moh.
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this is my biggest profile ever.
i had a conversation with
@Olamide
for
@guardianmusic
@guardian
we talked about growing in Bariga, Nigerian contemporary pop, UY Scuti, and why he will never be desperate for foreign validation.
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i'm so fucking happy.
my first series of editors' notes for Apple Music went up today.
last year, i was writing threads on Twitter about wanting more robust notes for albums on the platform and i get to do that now, what a time...
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26. still in the game and rocking with the people i love.
avril says we’ll always see sunny days—we’re yet to be proven wrong.
turning 25 today.
nothing much to say. awa wa okay and our people are thriving.
but, of course, there is no paragon of perfection. te ba ri nkan ta se ti o da, e so fun wa. in any way possible, a ma wa atunse si.
with that said, happy birthday and grateful for a new year.
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i’ve worked on apple music editorials for nine of the fourteen projects listed here. where has all the time gone?
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i worked on an editorial titled “The Story Of Afrobeats In 20 Songs” with Apple Music for Africa Month.
what a great day for this thing of ours. doxology for all our radiant stars.
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pursued this story for a year. thanks to Baddo for allowing me tell a part of his story. highlight of the year
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i profiled
@Odumodublvck_
in
@RollingStoneUK
we talked about emulating Jesus, Abuja, and admiring Skepta.
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pursued this story for a year and i’m grateful to
@omah_lay
for letting me into the boy alone world even for half a hour, it’s heavy and dense there but there’s a semblance of comfort at the end.
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i helped
@MAVINRECORDS
celebrate the biggest year in their 11-year history with words for their microsite and video assets to take stock of a standout year.
words for all nine acts on the label’s roster.
check it out here:
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there's a therapeutic essence to listening to Mohbad's music for me. it almost feels like he's telling the world about anecdotes from our past shared life.
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i’m grateful to everyone that’s been sending pitches. atm, i’m not looking to hire writers but i’m on the lookout for talented writers to join our contributors’ network.
i’ll do a thread soon about what type of stories we are ideally looking for and how to pitch The NATIVE.
hi friends.
i’m starting an editor-at-large role
@NativeMag
where i’ll be working to expand our coverage of the music, culture, style, and politics of our era.
i’m looking forward to working with writers and creatives from all over so send a pitch to Wale
@thenativemag
.com.
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Ayra Starr makes a case for multiplicity, sonic mastery and global domination—and she emerges victorious.
great review of TYIT21 by
@daluchiii
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so proud of all the work that we talk sound, 49th street, txt are doing with documenting our culture and the fact that it’s led by ex-university students is so crazy because they are putting our history together from a youth-centric perspective.
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i wrote about the 20th anniversary of one of the cornerstone records of our culture, Face2Face.
“In 2004, with his back to the wall, 2Face returned with a genre classic for the ages that created a template for the present and future of Afropop.”
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In November 2023,
@NickJWReilly
emailed me to do a Play Next feature for
@RollingStoneUK
. I sent a draft back two weeks later and the story was published on the 11th of December. I issued an invoice on the same day and expected payment on a net 30 basis as is standard practice.
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the columm is BACK: i wrote about
@fireboydml
and
@edsheeran
's "peru" remix and what it means for afropop and spotlighted some cool songs by
@faveszn
,
@kofi_mole
, VDA, and Rokia Kone.
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so glad to announce that i’ll be doing a monthly column with
@NativeMag
to explore different cities and the contributions they make to this thing of ours. psyched for this 😈😈
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we created a one-pager to help writers understand what we’re looking for in terms of story ideas and pitches
@NativeMag
please read here:
if there’s any information needed, please ask.
really looking forward to getting amazing emails.
i’m grateful to everyone that’s been sending pitches. atm, i’m not looking to hire writers but i’m on the lookout for talented writers to join our contributors’ network.
i’ll do a thread soon about what type of stories we are ideally looking for and how to pitch The NATIVE.
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contributed blurbs for
@thefader
’s best album of the year list.
words on
@asakemusic
@blacksherif_
@omah_lay
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wrote about all the positives in Afropop this year: Wiz and Burna's Grammy wins, "Essence," Amapiano's global popularity, and Asakaa
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please, culture watchers interested in Nigerian pop culture, listen to MohBad, listen to Zinoleesky, listen to what street pop guys put
have some respect for what actually moves Lagos culture.
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if you want the prose to sing, better call
@esomnofu_e
so glad to have worked with him on this expansive profile of amapiano’s most outsized personality, Uncle Waffles.
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Update: I have received this payment.
Thank you to everyone that retweeted, commented, and shared.
In November 2023,
@NickJWReilly
emailed me to do a Play Next feature for
@RollingStoneUK
. I sent a draft back two weeks later and the story was published on the 11th of December. I issued an invoice on the same day and expected payment on a net 30 basis as is standard practice.
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turning 25 today.
nothing much to say. awa wa okay and our people are thriving.
but, of course, there is no paragon of perfection. te ba ri nkan ta se ti o da, e so fun wa. in any way possible, a ma wa atunse si.
with that said, happy birthday and grateful for a new year.
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"I take that risk every time I put out a song and I’m fine with that because I’m an artist.”
it's been a little over one year since this came out and
@LadiPoe
has gone on to do a madness.
leader of the revival is enjoying providence now
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"Obongjayar and Sarz’s assured approach to making unfamiliar music collides on their recently-released Sweetness EP, adding a 80s retro sheen to afrobeats."
enjoyed moderating this conversation between
@obongjayar
and
@beatsbysarz
for
@Dazed
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wrote about how Rema’s Rave and Roses means that Afropop’s most exciting generation have graduated from rookies to scene fixtures—and collected some cool new releases.
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a while ago, i wrote a piece on the growing skate community in Lagos, looking at the progress made—waf, dencity—the structural issues still affecting the community, and the long-held dream for a place to call theirs in this city
for
@colorsxstudios
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there is no history —or present—of popular african music without the ingenuity and talent of its women.
new column dispatch on the new generation of woman set to redefine afropop.
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the music on YCee's forthcoming is so heavy on granular details. love it so much i'm living-ish it.
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had a conversation with
@jeriqthehussla
for
@audiomackafrica
@audiomack
about igbo trap music, dreaming, and shouldering responsibilities for his family after his dad passed.
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and obviously when i say this, i know that Mohbad has lived an infinitely harder life than i can imagine, but i used to be that guy. i used to have to gbera at 4:30 literally and dream about the day my pains would go away.
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and thankfully my pains are receding if anything, but i still gbera everyday like im very sure MohBad does — he recorded KPK in the dead of the night at 3 AM— and clock in on this journey we call life
and obviously when i say this, i know that Mohbad has lived an infinitely harder life than i can imagine, but i used to be that guy. i used to have to gbera at 4:30 literally and dream about the day my pains would go away.
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had a conversation with
@prettyboyDO
for an outtake from
@TheFaceMagazine
's latest issue's collaboration with Moncler.
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sam smith was stupendously deep in his bag when he wrote too good at goodbyes. what an elite record.
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it’s been one year since MohBad released his last project while with us.
i wrote a small essay about Blessed, last words, the theater of love, and the task of remembering.
thanks to
@tayobero
for making this all come together.
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i think the biggest thing i took away from the Rema and DJ Neptune issue was Rema's fierce insistence on how the world gets to see his art. too many times, especially in Nigeria, young people have their agency messed with and they have to bare themselves to the world in a way
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bro, the creative energy that OAU put out from 2016 to 2019 was unprecedented.
Soft, RM, Jislof, and Bamidele were blurring the lines of fashion, style, and modeling. i used to play football with Fireboy and Zaki in my compound, take a walk down Ede road and see Blaq and Cheque
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i asked Desmond — who Twitter has now verified — to take pictures of me in the house today and he did.
im sending verified people on errands now, please let there be respect on my name in these streets.
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"perhaps the reason why
@asakemusik
's songs have done spectacularly well is because he uses urban language that echoes street realities while crafting great pop melodies."
carried my great sungbaman agenda to my
@TheFaceMagazine
column this month.
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22 for 22: i wrote about
@ayrastarr
@blacksherif_
@Lojaymusic
@Kamo_mphelaxx
for
@TheFaceMagazine
's 22 musicians to look out for in 2022.
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it is impossible to understand the kinetic connection between fashion, art, and music in the 21st century without encountering the pioneering work of Virgil Abloh.
a true master who connected the enduring energy of Kumasi with the high art appeal of Paris and London, may he rest
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i profiled
@SportingLagos
’s rise to the top-flight in under two years.
“The owner really wanted a Premiership team. For everything to come alive, we really need to be promoted.” – coach Paul Offor.
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niggas on Instagram love this blurb from a piece i wrote about Zinoleesky.
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i'm so happy.
it's been six months of writing the column on
@TheFaceMagazine
thanks to all the exciting musicians who have soundtracked this wonderous, strange year.
thanks to
@davyreed
for kind edits.
12 editions maybe?
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omah lay is such a candid creator, may the universe always protect his art
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i wrote about how Africa’s cultural cachet is at an all-time high across music, film, and art for
@statementafrica
.
thank you to
@gahmeli
@AmaraWorldWide
@Lattibamisedun
for sharing their thoughts with me.
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it is raining heavily in Computer Village and Zinoleesky's voice is playing loudly from a speaker in one shop tucked at the end of this alleyway. this is the voice of Lagos booming in the most Lagos of places
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nigeria culture tires me out so many times because what is sacred, commendable, and laudable about our culture is too often the primary vehicle for how the country is descending into anarchy in real time.
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i wrote about Ayo Maff a while ago but i didn’t add the bit about how he’s constantly mourning—at least for now.
people are connecting to his music without really deeping what they’re singing about.
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before i leave the city to explore other subcultures, im going to touch base with
@rexxiepondabeat
to discuss what’s happening in lagos with street pop.
7 pm
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look at what the kids made.
may the universe continue to shine brightly on all the radiant children of street-pop
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i wrote about African music’s phenomenal ascent in 2023 and where the road might lead going forward for
@statementafrica
.
thank you to
@CamilleStorm
and
@dennisadepeter
for sharing their insights with me
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Tems was, and still is, the girl on fire—and ‘Born in the Wild’ takes things up another notch, prioritising free flowing self-expression over conformist formulas.
interesting review of Tems’ long-awaited debut by the Native newsroom.
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the team
@NativeMag
put together a list of some interesting projects from this year that we felt you should absolutely check out now.
i wrote on
@JDxwm
@Ibejiimusic
and
@ReggieOsei1
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last column on
@TheFaceMagazine
for the year, we will be back next year.
thanks to all the great musicians that we've been honored to write about and
@davyreed
for making space for my words
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man, wake up.
i don’t know who you’re reading but the best 🇳🇬culture writers aren’t writing bland, voiceless shit.
the foreign writers you’re bending over backwards for are always lifting narrative influence directly from the work of on-the-ground writers.
hate to be that guy but the problem is bland voiceless writing. haven't read a music profile by a 🇳🇬 journo with a STRONG voice in a minute. storytelling and narrative choices are often rote at best or clout-desperate and without soul at worst
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i really want to pay respect to
@ChinonsoIhekire
. in an age where many writers and journos are mailing it in, he’s really really out there on the frontlines putting in the work
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earlier this year, i spoke with
@Ajebo_Hustlers
and they told me that "Barawo" was an attempt to preserve the memory of the Aluu 4, who died today nine years ago.
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i took a two weeks break from everything.
i wrote a Tems review today, i felt so refreshed.
wetin i write sef dea sweet me.
i have an interview tomorrow with a musician whose music excites me so much, looking to end the year on a high.
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if she already scaled the mountains with her earlier works, V represents the apotheosis of one of the most brilliant musical minds of her generation.
reviewed the new Asa!
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i act oblivious to half the things i see because i’d rather not waste mental bandwidth on fuckery.
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found a cafe to write at less than 10 minutes away from my house, i’m about to become award-winning and unstoppable.
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my great year of archiving street-pop is at hand. wrote a scene report on how the subgenre is hybridizing and becoming the most important component of afropop.
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so proud of our heritage and getting to document this p.
i’ve had conversations with all the people that are advancing street ooo in meaningful ways, crown jewel is coming out later this year 🙏🏾
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i wrote about pain and going through everything Nigeria throws at me and the people i call my own here:
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my sister called me to congratulate me for writing the Rema album notes. Arin is a cutie 🤣🤣😭🥺
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i’ve been freelancing only for a little over two years now is what this joke is supposed to mean.
being back with the native is a reminder of the conviviality of a newsroom and being able to work with a new generation of creatives. 🙂
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new edition of my column on
@TheFaceMagazine
with words on CKay, Tems, Ballaké Sissoko, and Stonebwoy and Focalistic.
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there are very few artistes i can call artists of my heart and
@Ibejiimusic
is one of the very few. and all he wants to do is sing.
we had a chat few weeks after his headies win and talked about re-invention, time, space, and love.
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street-pop is the present and future of afropop.
doesn’t mean other sounds won’t thrive or do well, we’re just moving to an era rooted in authenticity and that’s what street-pop represents.
Street pop saved the music industry this year, argue with yourself.
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@RollingStoneUK
@NickJWReilly
@CliffJoannou
I believe in mutual respect between collaborators and withholding a payment for as long as seven months after a story has been published is a very poor look and extremely disappointing because it minimizes the effort that goes into telling stories.
Do better
@RollingStoneUK
.
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if una dea go club this december just hold like two hanky because after playing omah lay “i’m a mess” we go enter blacko “ktt” then pam everywhere with asake “ototo”
sad boys na im get this year
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also, shoutout to all the kids who left home last year for whatever reason. 12 months in, we're still pushing 🙏🏾
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wrote about blacko and moliy.
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progression is so great to see. fireboy dml went from jealous to playboy. second biggest evolution in afropop in the last half-decade.
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thanks for letting me tell your story Korty. proper superstar ❤️
The life God is grooming me for is bigger than words can explain, I’m ready for whatever comes my way. Thank you
@OkayAfrica
,
@walenchism
for this masterpiece. Link in bio 💛
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so much has happened to me this year, so much is happening right now,
so much more will happen.
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to be honest, Nigeria wears you down because while you're dealing with tweets like this, Iyin Aboyeji is probably preparing to launch his latest missive, and, later at night, you'll have to deal with Lai Mohammed denying the 20/10/20 shootings.
Hello everyone. This is my first tweet in so many months. God, how I missed Twitter. BTW, I’m not defying the authorities. I’m outside the country. Looking forward to utilizing the opportunity.
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in praise of T.I Blaze: why life come hard, and man no wan to do bad.
& just once, i
ask that you see the kid beyond the vice, beyond the devils
that sit on his shoulder blades
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my mom let me go to Ife to study as a 14-year-old when nobody else thought i was ready
What is the most courageous thing you ever saw your mother or father do?
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on the last day of the buhari presidency, i hope we all collectively stream these buhari times and agree never to do that to ourselves again.
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this entire journalism thing has been one long unending cruise tbh.
BUT..
the stories that have made my heart race by me have been written in Nigerian pubs but writing for foreign pubs is a neccesary armour — financially, professionally, and ego-wise.
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